Tag Archives: wrestling

Josh Bacon won Gold at the NABJJF (North America Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) San Diego International Open. Josh competed in the NoGi division for the tournament held on February 26 in San Diego, CA. The NABJJF belongs to the SJJIF (Sport Jiu Jitsu International Federation) and it aims to expand and unite the sport internationally with rules, regulation and style that conforms to Olympic standards and embodies the Olympic spirit.

Josh made an impressive show of heart victory to secure a medal at the Grappling X tournament held in Elk Grove in November of 2016. He had to take a little break from training between the two competitions, but his passion to train, learn, and compete pulled him back out to the competition arena in San Diego. He had an impressive showing, and was back on the mat the following week after his return from San Diego.

Coach Eliot made his second performance on the Fight to Win Professional submission only show in San Jose, CA on January 27th, 2017. The Gi and NoGi profession jiujitsu and grappling show travels the United States showcasing local talent. F2W Pro’s submission only format was one of the most exciting shows of 2016 among grappling and jiujitsu entertainment. The show in San Jose paid out over $30,000 in prize money and with the live audience of over 2,500 and an online viewership over 30,000 the event was a grand success. More on the event can be found here.

Coach Eliot matched up with Kyle Kingsbury, a BJJ black belt and former MMA fighter in the UFC. Their match was NoGi at 230lbs. Their match was one of the anticipated fights of the night along with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu legends, KURT OSIANDER, OSVALDO QUIEIXINHO MOZINHO, BRUNO FRAZZATTO, and RHALAN GRACIE.

ELIOT KELLY (EDH BJJ) VS KYLE KINGSBURY (CHECKMAT BJJ)

The match finished with a unanimous judge decision with 3-0 voting for Eliot’s victory. Needless to say, Kyle and Eliot put on a great show for the audience in attendance with a dynamic display of takedowns, guard attacks, and submission attempts.

Guard-Play or Passing Guard?

It’s good to decide, before the sparring match, if you would like to Play Guard or Pass Guard. If both fighters want to pass and the match begins on the feet (opposed to the knees) then someone will have to takedown or throw their opponent to the mat, which forces the opponent to play guard. If both fighters want to play guard, the one who pulls guard first is playing guard.

Generally, the fighter passing guard will make grips on the opponent’s lower body (knees, hips, ankles) to control the legs and hips of the guard player. The fighter playing guard will make grips on the opponent’s upper body (Not always, but this is a good way to start off with until you develop a more advanced guard) to control the distance of the passer, as well as their posture, and their ability to move around you in either direction.

It’s good for the guard passer to keep a leading knee between themselves and the guard player to prevent the guard player from closing the guard around their waist. This adds another (dangerous) step between being in their guard and passing guard. The guard player will try to keep their feet, knees, or (butterfly) hooks between themselves and the passer’s body and legs to prevent them from pressuring their guard with their weight.

The basic objective of the guard passer is get passed their guard into side-control, knee on belly, or mount. The basic objective of the guard passer it to sweep (their opponent to the ground: reversing the positions), Submit, or take the back (To back-control with the hooks).

It’s good to practice both, but it’s better to know what you want to practice before your opponent decides for you.

Etiquette:

It’s good form to bow and shake hands, before and after a match. It’s also good form not to celebrate when you win and not sulk when you lose.

Being too aggressive with strength and size (rather than technique) might also be perceived as disrespectful and unnecessary. The term “Sparring” implies training to fight by simulating the movements and technique of Jiu-Jitsu. There is force, endurance, strength and agility involved, but the idea behind sparring is that you can do it with anyone, both of you walk away without any injuries or sore feelings toward one another.

Learn by Example:

Watch the upper-belts and pay attention to how they spar when you roll with them. Most upper belts have training long enough to know what makes for a long term sparring partnership as well as avoid injuries on both sides.

Javen Jones, freshman at Oak Ridge High School, took Bronze in the NABJJF (North American Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Federation) Kids All Americas on the twenty first of January in Cerritos, CA.

Winning one of his two matches, Javen displayed excellent takedown strategy, scoring a takedown on both matches. He managed to secure the mount position and, just as the timer ended, finished with an armbar — a favored technique, as seen from his preceding tournaments. Javen plans to come back from his tournament experience and hit the mats immediately! He has big aspirations to continue competing for years to come.

We will be hosting SUNDAY ~ FUNDAY with Coach Ryan Loder of Apex Wrestling. Apex Wrestling has the mission statement to build better people through wrestling. This is a great opportunity to learn from an division one NCAA All-American wrestler. Here are a few more details about coach Ryan:

While Ryan comes from one of the prestigious wrestling universities under the leadership of coach Doug Schwab, he comes from a local high school, Granite Bay HS. He began Sunday Funday with a few specific goals in mind. Sunday Funday is an opportunity for wrestling to get on the mat and have fun while getting some guided instruction. The goal of Funday is to provide a healthy learning environment where wrestlers can come together to ask questions and make improvements to their specific style.